Mine car wheel bearing support



Sept. 4, 1951 E. RAMSAY MINE CAR WHEEL BEARING SUPPORT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lf I I Sept. 4, 1951 I E, RAMSAY 2,566,427

MINE CAR WHEEL. BEARING SUPPORT original .filed June 24, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 2 fk5/mv: Ramsay Ir To Rm: Ys

Patented Sept. 4, 1951` MINEAR-WHEEL BEARING ,SUPPORT Erskine Ramsay, Birmingham, Ala.

Originalwapplication June 24, 1944, Serial Nor 542,018, Divide d ar 1d this application October Y 14, 11,948, ,Serial .151.0- `54,283

solaima (c1. s-364)- The. presepi-, applicationis. a divisionT ofA` my cu- A pending application, Serial No. 542,018, filed June, 24, 1944, now issued as Patent No. 2,465,479.,sub-V ject Mine `Car Wheel Bearing Structure and. relate s .to.min e cars, and includes amongitsprincipal features a car body having outwardly` curving sides withfwheel4 housings inset into the Asides ofwlthe carbodyand wheels mounted therein on bearings supported by stub axles, whereby the bottom of thecar body is directly above the level o f,1'he.rza.ils;` also a car body having spheroidal endswithcoupling members telescoping into the ehdsvofjuthe ca rs, where by to reduce the space between cars? A further object is to provide a car and wheel housingwhichmay be made of sheet metal, suitablyrolledor otherwise formed to shape, together with means to distribute the sprung weight of the ca r and load to the wheel housing, thus permit,- ting` th e use of-relatively light Weight sheets for checar body and wheel housings.

These and other advantages of my Yimproved construction will be apparent from-a considera-f tionfof the4 accompanying drawingsfiorming a part of this application, in which:

Fig.` 1 is aside elevation of a mine car constructed in accordance with my invention and showing it coupled to two other cars at the ends;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the car shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a `transverse sectional view oftthe'- car through the wheel housings and also showingthe adaptability. thereof `for operation with a car dump;

Fig. 4 isasectional View through a wheeland housing therefor, drawn to va larger scale;

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken alongthe line VTV of Fig, 4;

Fig. 6 isa detailed sectional view taken along the line VI--VI of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional View showing the construction for roller bearings for the wheels; and

Fig. ,8 is a detail sectional View showing the manner of attaching a reinforcing tube to one of the gussets.

Referring to the drawings, my improved car body is made from steel plates pressed to shape, and preferably welded together, having outwardly curved sides 5 and 6, and with spheroidal ends 'l and 8. Preferably the upper edges are provided with a reverse curve outwardly at the top, as shown at 9 and I0, in order to minimize the space between cars. The sides of the car have their edges rolled over as shown at l5 to provide reinforcement. At one end of each car, I provide aspheroidal socketA ll whichforms`- the Vfemale member of a coupling and 'at the other endl-pro- Videa male member l2 which isadapted -to enter the socket of the car `to which-it iscoupled; and

coa'ettherewith to couple thecars together.H The.

detailsvof this coupler forinjthe subjectma-tter of aco-pending applcationfserial No.` 578,6835 led February 19, 1945, now issued asjPatent-No.` 2,407,449.

Thecar bodies are braced by transverse gussetsl I3 and I4, each composed of'a plateflwith-the top curved downwardly 'between the sides' of the car as shown in Fig. 3,A and having a tubeureinforcement Il welded thereto along thertop-edgef Thereinforcement l1 may conveniently bemade as shown in Fig. 8, frorr 'a pipe Aslit alongy its` length to form a notchin whichthe-edgey of the-- plate l enters and is welded thereto along-'each line, of contact.

The wheel housings i8, four innumberf aren u eachshaped from sheet metaljtoform a circular hood 4IEl overhanging each, wheelfa'nd-a vertical) inner wal12l from which the wheel mounting-is supported. The sides cfg-thecar bodyjare cutout asshown in Figs. 3 and 4,'tojreceive thelwheelf housings, and the housings Mare welded tothe` sides of the car body along the lines'o juncture-, It will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, that the trans verse gussets I3' and I4; areJ positioned centrally over thewheel housingslv at :frontand4 `rear of thecar, There is thus'` provided a inaxiniumzof support for the housingsi* Eachjof thewheel mountingsgcomprises;an axlej supporting casting, 22;"having-fsidej flanges-j 23;l which 'fit in separate Z-shapedfinembersjiwforme' ing guides, secured by rivets v25'tothevertical-j plate 2 A ofthe Wheel housingas'shown-ilr Fig 6. ThcuDpQr surface of the axlesuppprtingcastin 221 extends horizontally across asishownlat 2 Q form a springQSeft--llgwhil Springe@ 2.7 1??592799 and which bear attheirupper endsagainst `a block 23 located in the upper part of the wheel housing I8, and having corresponding spring seats formed therein. The block 28 may be welded to the underside of the circular hood I9, and serve to distribute the load of the springs, as will presently appear. The spring seats may be provided with bosses 22a and 28a., disposed to fit into the ends of the springs, thus to prevent the springs from becoming unseated. The axle supporting casting 22 is free to move up and down in its guides 24 and is limited in its movement only by a pin 29 which extends through the vertical wall 2| into a pocket 3l formed in the casting 22.

The axle supporting housing 22 is also provided with a pocket 32 into which extends the threaded end of a stub axle 33 which is secured in place by a nut 34 in the pocket 32. A collar 36 is formed on the axle supporting housing 22 and surrounds the stub axle 33 to form half the inner race for a ball bearing 31.V The other half of the bearing race is formed in a sleeve 38 whichis bored out to t about the axle 33 and is provided with a shoulder 39 which cooperates with a corresponding shoulder 4l on the axle so that when the nut 34 is tightened, the outer half of the race 38 is drawn tightly in place. The wheel 42 has a hollow hub 43 and forms the outer member thereof. The outer end of the hub 43 is bored ,out at 47 to form a sleeve bearing for the outer end of the stub'axle 33. Packing 46 fits in a groove 43 of the collar 36 and bears against the inner surface of the hub 43 to prevent theescape of oil from the bearings or the entrance of grit and sand.

In Fig. 7 Isho'w "af modified' form of bearing which may beused with myA4 improvedcar. In accordance with this modification,V the axle supporting casting l is provided with a relatively short stationary hub portion 52.` A' Fitting on the outer end of the sleeve 52 is an extension 53 which is held in place by the'stub axle 54 and nut 56. The extension 53 forms then inner race for a roller bearing 51. The outer race of the roller bearing E1 is formed by theV hollow hub 55 of the wheel 53. The bearing is assembled by cutting out a section, such as El', through which a single roller may be inserted, and after all the rollers have been inserted theV cut out portion 5i is welded back in place. The bearing shown in Fig. 7 is sealed'against the escape' of oil or the entrance of grit by means ofrpacking 62 seated in a groove 63 inthe stationary hub'inember 52. As shown in Fig. 7, the outer end .of the extension 53 is bored out at 6D to forma sleeve bearing surrounding an inward projection 65 'of the hub 58.

It is contemplatedfin' accordancev with my invention, that the vbearings showneither in Fig. 4 or Fig. 7 will belubrica'ted when the car is constructed and the wheels installed, and that itV will require no further lubrication for the life of the wheel.V Y y In Fig. 3 of the drawing I'show my improved c ar as being located within the rings of a rotary car dump, such 'for example as shown in my prior patent No. 1,685,203 Yor 2,179,100, or any other weil known form of rotary car dump. It

will be seen that the longitudinalroller edges I5 of the car body adapt themselves to'be engaged by the clampmmbers 64 which are rotatably mounted in the rings'GB. It will be further seen that the construction of my improved mine car lends itself admirably to' operation in a rotary dump whereby all of the coal within the car may be discharged as the car is inverted.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have devised a mine car of maximumstrength and capacity, with the lowest possible center of gravity, and a minimum distance between coupled cars. It will also be seen that I have provided a wheel mounting which occupies a minimum of space in the body of the car, and which provides a yielding support for the car therebi1 reducing shock and insuring long life to the car and to the wheel.

The block 28n serves effectively to distribute Y the sprung weight of the car over the hood I9 of Y the wheel housing, and permits the use of relatively light gauge sheets for the housing.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that itisnot so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes and modications, without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, .that only such limitations shall be placedthereonasare specicallyset forthV in the appended claims:

WhatIc1aimis;' 1. The combinationwith amine car embodying a sheet metal body with Voutwardly curved sides and wheel mountings each comprising a sheet metal wheel housing fitting into the sides of the body of the carl and having a vertical inner wall, separate Z-shaped membersforming verti' cal guides along the sides of the inner Wall, a wheel mounting bracket slidably mounted'in 'the' A the slidable movementof the mounting bracket is limited by the provision of pins projectingv through the inner wall of the housing into a pocket formed in said bracket.

ERSKINE RAMSAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent: Y y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,470,391 Sanford Oct. 9, 1923 1,508,123 VRamsay f Sept. 9, 1924 1,582,312 Sensenich Apr. 27,1926 2,142,412

Ramsay Jan. 3', 1939 

